i hate chicken. i mean, i HATE touching, cleaning, dealing with uncooked chicken, period! my sisters are all kind of freaked out by raw chicken, and therefore, i have developed quite a phobia of it myself. unfortunately, we eat chicken at least twice a week, if not more. we figured out a chicken solution shortly after we were married. it makes cooking dinner for me 10x easier, and it makes my husband 10x happier that he doesn't have to clean the chicken for me every time!
whenever we buy chicken, we buy it in bulk. my husband will clean all the chicken and cut it into about 3 ounce pieces. we then put two- four pieces of the cleaned chicken in a freezer zip-lock bag. then you throw it all in the freezer! whenever i need chicken for a meal, all i have to do it pull a bag out of the freezer and put it either directly into a baking dish, or directly into a frying pan. it dramatically minimizes the amount of raw chicken i have to touch! it also cuts down prep time for dinner in half! (okay maybe not half, but a lot!)
and ta-da!
it works perfect for us!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Caramel Brownies
1 pkg. german chocolate cake
1/2 c. margarine
1 can of canned (evaporated) milk
1 pkg. caramel squares
1 8oz. pack milk chocolate chips (i used more.. of course)
Mix cake, margarine, 1/2 can milk. Put half of the cake batter into a 9x13 greased and floured pan. Cook for 6 minutes at 350 degrees.
Meanwhile, melt caramel with 1/3 c. milk. (cook on medium-low heat, stirring constantly) Set to "cool" (just for a short while)
Sprinkle chocolate chips and caramel over the "cooked" portion of the cake. Spoon the remainder of the cake batter on top by heaping teaspoons. (the batter is quite thick) Cook for 18 more minutes. Allow time to cool before eating.
*I think they taste best the next day after they have had time to cool in the refrigerator. (make sure to cut them before refrigerating though)
Chicken "Nuggets"
2 cups of bite-size shredded wheat cereal (crushed to 1 cup)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 Tbs. honey
2 tsp. prepared mustard
chicken- cut into bite-size pieces
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine cereal, parmesan cheese, salt, paprika, and garlic powder. In a separate dish combine mayo, honey and mustard. Stir chicken into mayo mixture and then roll in cereal mixture- coat evenly. Place in shallow baking dish and bake for 15-20minutes. (ours took 30min because i did bigger pieces of chicken)
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Pulkokee
Yeah... I'm not sure how to pronounce the name of this meal either, BUT it is absolutely divine. It's definitely one of my top 5 favorite meals. My sister in-law gave my mom this recipe, and now I have possession of it! It's REALLY easy to make, which makes it all the better!
1 lb. beef, cut in thin strips (we use top sirloin steak)
4 T. brown sugar
2 T. sesame oil
6 T. soy sauce
crushed red pepper (however much you would like- we used 1/4 T)
1 green onion (or not..)
1 glove minced garlic
4 T. sesame seeds
1 T. flour
Add beef, brown sugar, sesame oil, and soy sauce and mix well in large frying pan. Add remainder of ingredients and mix again. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes. Fry in pan on medium to medium-high heat until meat is brown and cooked through. Add 1/2- 1 cup of water and mix. Cover and simmer on low heat until tender. (about 20- 30 minutes) Serve over rice.
1 lb. beef, cut in thin strips (we use top sirloin steak)
4 T. brown sugar
2 T. sesame oil
6 T. soy sauce
crushed red pepper (however much you would like- we used 1/4 T)
1 green onion (or not..)
1 glove minced garlic
4 T. sesame seeds
1 T. flour
Add beef, brown sugar, sesame oil, and soy sauce and mix well in large frying pan. Add remainder of ingredients and mix again. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes. Fry in pan on medium to medium-high heat until meat is brown and cooked through. Add 1/2- 1 cup of water and mix. Cover and simmer on low heat until tender. (about 20- 30 minutes) Serve over rice.
Monday, May 16, 2011
my menu planning
I was just reading on "Sister's Cafe" about menu planners. I've been meaning to share how I do my menu planning as well, so now that I'm thinking about it, here we go..
I'm going to assume most women (or MEN) plan their menus by the week. I'm definitely not a natural at cooking, I was definitely not raised in a family that ate a home-cooked meal together every night, and I definitely don't always stick to my "menu plan", BUT- this is what I've found to be the easiest for me. I plan by the MONTH! yes.... it's true.
At the beginning of every month, or, like this month, on the 16th of the month... :), I print out a calendar for the whole month. Then I sit down with all my cookbooks and my laptop and I find a whole months worth of dinners. I fill in each day (minus Saturday's (left-over day) and Sunday's (we mooch off the parents on this day)) with just the main course. We have a few staple sides at our house... things like broccoli, bananas, asparagus, etc. so I just add those to the list. Every Monday I make the grocery list, going off of the meals for the week, add in the staples and the regulars (milk, eggs, cheese, etc.) and meal planning is complete.
It's the only way I cook even somewhat often. Some weeks I am really ambitious and cook Monday-Friday (okay... maybe that has only happened a handful of times), and some weeks I don't cook anything on the menu (that's okay though... then I can add it to the next month!)
Anyway, if you are like me, and you lack in the cooking genre, hopefully this will help. I had a little jumpstart this week and I'm trying out some new recipes. I will try my best to post them!
Ta-ta!
I'm going to assume most women (or MEN) plan their menus by the week. I'm definitely not a natural at cooking, I was definitely not raised in a family that ate a home-cooked meal together every night, and I definitely don't always stick to my "menu plan", BUT- this is what I've found to be the easiest for me. I plan by the MONTH! yes.... it's true.
At the beginning of every month, or, like this month, on the 16th of the month... :), I print out a calendar for the whole month. Then I sit down with all my cookbooks and my laptop and I find a whole months worth of dinners. I fill in each day (minus Saturday's (left-over day) and Sunday's (we mooch off the parents on this day)) with just the main course. We have a few staple sides at our house... things like broccoli, bananas, asparagus, etc. so I just add those to the list. Every Monday I make the grocery list, going off of the meals for the week, add in the staples and the regulars (milk, eggs, cheese, etc.) and meal planning is complete.
It's the only way I cook even somewhat often. Some weeks I am really ambitious and cook Monday-Friday (okay... maybe that has only happened a handful of times), and some weeks I don't cook anything on the menu (that's okay though... then I can add it to the next month!)
Anyway, if you are like me, and you lack in the cooking genre, hopefully this will help. I had a little jumpstart this week and I'm trying out some new recipes. I will try my best to post them!
Ta-ta!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)